Not unexpectedly, the Island AAA high school field hockey championship in Victoria last week came down to Cowichan Secondary and Oak Bay High, who battled for the upper hand throughout the season.

“We knew they would be our toughest competition of the tournament,” Cowichan coach Caitlin Erickson said.

With the Island title on the line, the teams once again went back and forth, going right down to the wire before Cowichan prevailed 2-1.

“It was really exciting,” Erickson said. “There were a lot of chances.”

Chloe Langkammer scored both Cowichan goals, sandwiched around Oak Bay’s lone tally. Oak Bay pulled out all the stops down the stretch in an attempt to tie.

“There was lots of pressure at the end of the game from them,” Erickson said.

The four teams in the tournament each played each other once in the round-robin competition. Cowichan beat newcomer Claremont in their first game last Thursday, and defeated Mount Douglas 4-0 on Friday morning. As the two finalists, Cowichan and Oak Bay both advanced to provincials. Third-place Mount Doug lost to Argyle from North Vancouver in a wildcard game earlier this week.

The Cowichan players pulled together to overcome some adversity over the course of the Island championships.

“We had a couple of injuries before and during the tournament,” Erickson said. “It really was a great full-team effort.”